


Adrenaline

by Bmae



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Anger, Brother-Sister Relationships, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Issues, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:48:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22909618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bmae/pseuds/Bmae
Summary: Before Hebe, Aphrodite, his children, and Persephone, Ares was simply a child being raised by the King and Queen of Olympus.Ares relationship with Zeus is nonexistent, but it started somewhere. In this story, the relationship between The God of War and the God of Thunder is explored through his childhood, while introducing a new character. His twin sister Arie, the Goddess of Wrath. Together they make mischief the best way they can to pass time in their dysfunctional home, growing apart from Zeus the older they get.
Relationships: Hades & Poseidon & Zeus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Hera/Zeus (Lore Olympus), Zeus/Other(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 45





	1. Tag! You're it!

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Lore Olympus](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/562756) by Rachel Smythe. 



> I originally was going to start this series off with Arie and Ares being older, both hating Zeus and Arie being the age to marry. However I wanted to take my time with the story and have the readers grow with the characters. Especially Arie. Let me know what you think! I’m excited to try something new.

“Ahoy-hoy” Zeus started, internally groaning while recording his fifth voicemail in a row. “You’ve reached Zeus, can’t come to the phone right now-”

The sound of childlike footsteps interrupted his thought process. Suddenly, the door to the office from behind him opened and someone rushed inside, making sure to close the door behind them.

Zeus was immediately annoyed. The family knew that the office was off limits while he was working. He mentioned to Hera plenty of times that the twins' rowdiness needed to be under control. Their energy somehow increased when they played together. Of course Hera disagreed, as she did with everything else.

Ares wasn’t an entire saint either. At the age of seven he manages to terrorize his sisters Athena and Arie every chance he has to get a rise out of them. Especially Arie. It’s his own twisted entertainment. All because he overheard an argument between Zeus and Hera that involved Zeus shouting that in result of Hera’s “aggressive behavior” their second batch of kids turned out to be the God of War and Goddess of Wrath.

Zeus sighed, while slightly rubbing his chin. When Athena was born, he didn’t remember her having as much energy as the twins. Even though she’s ten as of now, she acts as though she is at most two decades old. Her wisdom makes her parents forget that she’s just a kid. However, this makes her the prime victim of Arie and Ares pranks and playtime as well.

Zeus clicked his tongue at the assumption of Ares entering his office for the sake of his enjoyment to tick him off. It wouldn’t be the first time. “Ares, how many times have I mentioned-“ Swiveling in his office chair away from his desk, he lost his train of thought when he saw a distraught Arie leaning against the door slightly sweaty, and huffing. 

“Shh Papa!” She quickly hissed.

Arie, the Goddess of Wrath wasn’t as malicious as her twin brother. Yet, she did compliment his playful persona, aggressive behavior, and the unexplained need to be entertained by messing with others. Most importantly they both had anger problems, except that Arie’s anger outweighed Ares. There were times when it spiraled out of control, but Hera, as well as Zeus is still teaching her how to control it.

Lucky for both of them, Arie did not make it her mission to always be angry. On the contrary, it did not take much to evoke her rage. Unlike Ares gold skin complexion, red toned eyes and short golden curls, Arie’s skin complexion was maroon, with gold toned eyes that turned the deepest shade of red when enraged, and long golden curls.

The distant sound of running from beyond the door grew closer to Zeus’s office, but slowly ceased, as if the thought of walking closer would be pointless. A quick whistling noise flew through Ares lips. 

“Airy, I’m not giving up. I’m going to find YOUUU!” Ares yelled before retracting his steps to where he originally ran from. “AND BEING INVISIBLE IS CHEATING!”

Zeus raised his eyebrows at the young goddess, who slightly frowned at his expression. “I’m sorry Papa, Arey and I are playing hide and seek and he told me if he finds me by sundown then I’d have to cut my hair like his for a week-“ she started sniffling, unintentionally reaching for her hair. “His head is shaped like an egg. I don’t want to look like an egg!” She exaggerated, stomping her foot to conclude her story.

A surprised chuckle escaped through Zeus’s mouth. It was a long workday. The stress that he encounters daily of being a king most likely outweighs the stress of a seven year old. Yet, the thought of Arie going nuts over hair that can easily be grown back amused him. Zeus would be sure to bring this up at the weekly brunch this Sunday with Poseidon and Hades.

Zeus patted his knee. “I guess you can stay panther.” The corners of Arie’s mouth that tugged downwards reversed upwards, forming a smile. She ran across the room to her father’s lap, to which Zeus effortlessly picked her up when she came close enough in his reach and swiveled the chair back to his desk.

Arie gazed upon the stack of papers, an opened laptop with no tabs opened, and a background filled with lightning, and a work phone with a red light beeping silently. She pointed to it “what is that?”

“Shoot!” Zeus let out a sigh, remembering what he was doing in the first place. He pressed the speaker button to turn the signal off. “It’s what I was supposed to be doing.”

“Like what?”

“Recording a new voice message for my phone.”

“Why?” Arie knotted her eyebrows, slightly turning her head at Zeus. “I thought your assistant answered your calls”.

Zeus nodded in agreement “That is true-“

“So why do you need to make a voice message?” Arie interrupted.

“For those who try to reach me at an inconvenient time, I guess.” Zeus shrugged “Like your Uncle Poseidon-“

“Mom says your assistant does everything for you because your helpless-” Arie giggled “Like a baby.”

Zeus‘s anger grew at the visual image of Hera talking down to him in front of the children when he wasn’t around. “Did she now” He gritted through his teeth.

“Uh huh, everything. Even wiping your as-“

“HEY, I have an idea panther!” Zeus quickly interrupted before allowing his daughter to finish that sentence. “Why don’t you help me make the message?”

“Really?!”

“Yes.”

“But what do I say..?”

“On the count of three we’ll say Ahoy-hoy-“ Arie laughed at the greeting. “and you can say that I can’t reach the phone because I’m busy.” Zeus reached over to press the speaker button, typing in the code that led him to the voicemail system.

“Do you think you can handle that?”

Arie nodded with enthusiasm. “Okay” She smiled.

“Okay, 3....2...” Zeus waited for the red button to start beeping. “and go!”

“AHOY-HOYYYY” They chimed together.

“Papa can’t come to the phone right now because he’s busy...”

“...Sorry I missed your call. Please leave your name and number after the beep, and I'll get back to you promptly.”


	2. Tag! You're it (Part 2)

“WHERE'S Airy?!” Ares demanded, aggressively barging into Athena’s bedroom. The sun was sinking deeper into the sky, which meant that time was running out. “If she’s hiding in here I’ll find out” He really wanted to see her cut her hair.

Athena looked up from the book she was reading, “Mortal History for Dummies Vol. 28” on the floral circular carpet in the middle of her grand bedroom. “No, I haven’t.”

“I looked everywhere! So you’re lying”

“Hmph.” Athena lowered her eyes back to the book in the hands. “Try checking where you’ve already been.” She said patiently, turning another page in the book.

“That’s stupid.” Ares rolled his eyes. “I’m leaving.”

“Good luck.”

When Ares departed from the room, he made sure to leave the door slightly cracked to piss Athena off. He knew that it bothered her immensely when a guest left her door not entirely closed because it would make her move from her reading spot to fix it.

Time was running out. Ares spent the next two hours in the garden, the library, the east corridor, the west corridor, the dining hall, and checking all twelve of the royal bathrooms not including his parents.

It annoyed him that Arie managed to hide from him this long. Granted it would have been hilarious to see Arie freak out about her hair, but he hasn’t been able to play with her for the majority of the day.

The game simply wasn’t fun anymore.

Ares sat outside on the stairs on his front porch with a scowl on his face watching the last of the sun.

“What are you doing out here?”

Ares turned to see his mother Hera staring at him from the doorway with a manicured hand resting on her hip. Her golden hair was neatly tucked in a ponytail, and dressed in her house clothes that consisted of a tank top and pajama slacks. Her big blue eyes gazed at Ares with concern. “What’s wrong? Dinner’s almost ready.”

“I can’t find Airy,” Ares grumbled, lowering his eyes to the ground. “She ditched me.”

“Did you two get into a fight?”

“No.”

“Did you try to chase her with snakes again?”

“No”

“Wrestle her invisible?”

“No.”

“Tried to make her touch your smelly feet?” Hera placed her free hand over her mouth to suppress her giggles. Ares blushed in embarrassment “Ma! It’s not funny!”

“Oh lighten up!” Hera smiled, bending forward to scope Ares into her arms. “You ought to laugh, my little warhead.” She began to tickle various parts of his body, such as his stomach, his feet, and his armpits. Ares' laughter forced its way out his mouth. “Stop being so serious!” Hera grinned.

“MA!” Ares cried between hid fits of laughter. His body moved within his mother’s hold like a fish out of water. “P-P-Put me DOWN, I’m a-a big boy-“ he laughed again, trying to wiggle his feet and any other unprotected part of his body away from her. “B-BIG BOYS DON’T GET TICKLED!”

Hera snorted. “Oh please!” Her fingers focused more on his belly as she moved them both back inside, shutting the front door with her foot.

“Y-Y-YOU WIN!” Ares exclaimed. He felt his body heating up. If the tickling continued he’d end up shooting flames from his mouth. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Hera, noticing his body temperature ceased the ticking, and kissed his cheek before placing him down on his feet. “Mama always wins, don't forget that.” She smirked, reaching her hand out for him to take, “Come help me set the table. I’m sure Arie will be here soon.”

Ares hesitated before wrapping his hand around his mother’s hand. He loved walking with his mother, but he wanted to feel tough and not like a baby especially in front of Zeus. He was fully capable of walking without her guidance, but since no one was around he didn’t mind it. He couldn’t help being a momma’s boy.

-

“You have to fold the edges like this for the paper plane to fly accurately.” Zeus said, carefully folding the wings down, matching the top edges of the printing paper up with the bottom edge of the body.

“Okay” Arie concentrated while over folding her paper, trying to mimic the actions of her father.

“Can’t we just use our powers?” She asked, staring up at Zeus, who was seated across the desk from her. “All my planes have failed the air test.”

“That’ll just take the fun out of it.”

For the last two hours, Zeus and Arie have been creating paper airplanes to past time until supper came, which was usually after sundown. Thus, concluding the twins game of hide and seek.

“Go first. I went first before.”

Zeus smirked with a sly shrug. “Well, If you insist ...” He closed his left eyelid to concentrate more on the goal in front of him. The trash bin. He leaned his right arm on the desk. One hand firmly held the bottom of the airplane. As he tilted his arm back, the house phone intercom rang twice then hung up, which startled him and Arie. 

It was Hera’s way of telling Zeus that dinner was ready without talking to him. Sometimes the intercom would ring once or she’ll send one of the kids to tell him. “Well, the warden rang, time for dinner.” 

Arie scrunched her face. “That means I lost”

“More or less a rematch panther,” He reached over the desk to scoop Arie into his arms. “And technically, you won your game.” 

“YOU ARE RIGHT!” Arie exclaimed. “I won, I won-” In a flash, Zeus teleported them from his office to the dining table. “..I won” Arie finished cheering.

In the dining room, three out of the six seats were taken at the pearly white dining table. Hera sat at the far end of the table, Athena sat at the right of the chair parallel to Hera’s, which is Zeus’s seat, and Ares sat adjacent to Hera on her left. There was an empty seat across from Ares and an empty seat next to him. 

There was a plate for every chair. This was done in case someone decided to come over for dinner, which was frequent.

“Ari!” Hera smiled. “I’ve heard you were hiding!” Arie ran to her mom to give her a hug and sit on her right, filling in the empty seat across from Ares. 

Athena snorted. “Ares was panicking trying to find you.”

“No I wasn’t! Ares angrily sat in his seat with his arms crossed. He didn’t expect Arie to ditch him or their game for Zeus. It made him feel forgotten. He looked over at Arie who smiled at him smugly.  _ Did she have more fun with him? _

“Missed me?” She giggled. He did, but of course he wouldn’t tell her that. 

“No. I just wanted to cut your hair. My day was fine without you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! This virus got everyone tripping out, but I hope everyone stays safe, and wash their hands. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.


	3. Family Interactions

“Okay, loser” Arie shrugged off Ares comment. _He can be mad all he wants. Sore loser._

She turned her attention to the food on the table, which was aligned in the middle. In the center stood a black cast-iron filled with wheat linguine pasta, and to the right of it was a smaller pot filled with pasta sauce, peppers, and olives. Finally on a long baking sheet was the garlic bread.

“This looks good mom,” Athena said as she began to make her plate. “Fun fact, did you know that Zucchini could be a good substitute for pasta noodles?”

“No, I didn’t know that.” Hera picked up Ares' plate and started to make a small portion of the pasta and sauce.

“Mhm, I read about it a few weeks ago. At first, it was hard for me to picture because of the overall shape of the vegetable, but I began to see the bigger picture.” The garlic bread was pre-sliced, which made it easy for Athena to pick up a slice and place it on her plate.

“Hmph, I’ll look into that next time.”

“I see your studies are going well, bookworm,” Zeus interjected, adding his portion of pasta to his plate. “Bunny, may you please pass the sau-”

“I’m busy,” Hera replied curtly, while in the middle of pouring sauce over Arie’s pasta. “Get it yourself.”

Zeus squinted his eyes. “Would it be too much to nicely pass it when you’re done with the plate...since I don’t know, you’re using it.”

Hera glared at Zeus as she placed Arie’s plate in front of her. “Yes.”

“You make it seem like I’m asking for too much-”

“You are.”

“When I’m not.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time you thought like that.” “Bookworm,” Zeus leveled his gaze with Hera. “Please tell me more about this Zucchini and P L E A S E pass the sauce while you at it.”

“Sure dad.” Hera nicely passed Athena the saucepan without hesitation, who then passed it to Zeus. “Zucchini is a summer squash, not to get confused with an eggplant, which has less magnesium-“

“Now your father definitely knows what an EGGPLANT is,” Hera interrupted. “No need to teach him about that” She smiled innocently, taking a small bite out of the garlic bread.

Zeus felt his anger sprouting. “I’m familiar with it, yes.” _She definitely knows something, but what?_

“Don’t be modest, I’m sure you’ve shared an abundance of your eggplant by now at least-”

“I think you’re being dramatic.”

Hera leaned her head back and laughed, as though Zeus said the funniest joke in Olympus. “Dramatic? I’m only stating observations dear. No need to lie about your unexplained interest in sharing eggplants.”

“I don’t share eggplants.” Zeus placed his fork down. His appetite was fading, which was unfortunate because he was hungry and looking forward to eating dinner. The pasta on his plate was half-eaten, and he wasn’t full.

“Why is it even called an EGGplant?” Arie asked, twirling her fork in the pasta.

“That’s a good question-” Athena tried to chime in.

“Airy’s face looks like an eggplant” Ares interrupted.

Arie stuck her tongue out at Ares. “Your head looks like an egg”

“At least my head isn’t as big as yours!”

“Your feet smell like dog breath!” Ares dramatically grabbed his chest as though he was wounded.

“Hey! I’m SENSITIVE about that!”

“THEN WASH IT!”

“ **ARES. Stop. Bothering. Your. sister**!” Zeus raised his voice through gritted teeth. “This is a family dinner, and Athena was talking.”

“ **Don’t** take your anger out on him.” Hera intervened.

“I wasn’t! He provoked her!” Zeus threw his hands up.

“Should I continue..?” Athena asked awkwardly.

“His feet DOES stink,” Arie muttered.

Ares accusingly pointed a finger directly at Arie, “I heard that!”

“ **ARIE**! Enough!”

“STOP talking to her like that!” Hera yelled.

“Take your stupid anger out on something else, LIKE THE SKY!”

In a flash, a loud crackle of thunder whiplashed the sky. “I’M NOT ANGRY, I'm HUNGRY!” Zeus reached his limit for the day. Another lash of thunder followed up in response to his words.

Suddenly, Arie jumped from her seat and shoved her body under the table, hugging onto her mother’s leg. As of now, the sound of thunder made her feel panicky. Everyone in the house was aware of it.

“Now look what you did!” Hera pushed her chair back to give herself room to rub Arie’s back. “You know how she gets.”

_Shit._ Zeus instantly regretted his actions. A guilty expression filled his face “Panther, I’m sorry.”

“Of course you’re sorry after you intentionally do the damage.” Hera sarcastically stated.

“It’s okay Ari, it stopped,” Athena said.

Ares rolled his eyes. His concern for his sister outweighed his bitterness for how he felt about losing the game, but he wasn’t going to crack. _I know she’ll be okay._

“Are you still hungry?” Hera asked in a soothing voice. Arie shook her head no. “Athena, do you mind taking her plate to the kitchen? I’ll wrap it up later”

“Yes, ma’am” Athena rose from her seat, walked over to Arie’s plate and picked it up. She took a quick peek at her sister before taking her plate to the kitchen.

“I should get going as well, I told Poseidon I’d call him back if I had some free time tonight-“

“No.”

“No?” Hera gently pried her daughter off her leg to allow herself to stand. “We are having a talk after this.” Arie came from under the table, avoiding eye contact with Zeus as Hera led her away from the dining area.

Athena returned to the table and continued to eat the little food on her plate. “You alright dad?”

Zeus let out a deep sigh. “Peachy.”

“And what about you Ares?”

Ares shrugged his shoulders. “It’s whatever.”

Zeus shifted his attention to his son. “Ares, you need to apologize to your sister.”

Ares's eyes widened at Zeus’s statement. “But why?!” He crossed his arms defiantly. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Your sour mood played a part in ruining the dinner because you don’t know how to not be a sore loser.”

Ares knew that it was partially his fault, but hearing it from Zeus made him feel more remorse. _I didn’t have to say those things._ “But-“

“I expect you to apologize before morning.” His authoritative tone made it clear that his words were final. The response “no” is nonexistent.

“Yes sir”

The next thirty minutes of supper was spent in silence. Hera did not bother to come back to the table after preparing Arie for her bed. Instead, she waited in the bedroom where she knew Zeus would eventually come for them to truly lash out about his latest conquest.

Ares and Athena were sent to their rooms by Zeus once he noticed that their food was done, and they didn’t try to get second helpings. By the time Ares was settled into bed, he noticed the clouds forming in the night sky from his balcony window. It was going to be one of those nights when his parents were having a “talk”.

Ares laid in his queen-sized bed under his silk blankets deep in thought. He wasn’t tired enough to sleep, nor was he able to see Arie to apologize before he got to bed. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with his father in the morning.

His eyes were glued to the ceiling, which consisted of glow in the dark stars. Hera and Zeus created them to ensure that the room wasn’t too dark. It was supposed to help him sleep better.

_I hope Airy is okay._ He thought to himself before he heard a small knock on the door. Ares froze. He automatically knew who was on the other side, but he was surprised that she came today.

The small knock happened again. “C-come in” Ares quickly said. He propped his body up on his elbows, as the door opened. Arie walked into the room with a pillow in her hand and closed the door behind her. Her hair was braided in two pigtails and she was wearing a purple pajama set.

Ares scooted over to make room, even though his bed was way bigger than the dining room table. The bed dipped slightly as Arie climbed into bed but instead of laying down she crawled to Ares's side, raised her pillow and smacked it over his face.

Ares angrily bolted up. “What’s your problem?!”

“What’s YOUR problem?!” Arie repeatedly smacked Ares with the pillow. “You’ve. Been. Acting. Like. A. Jerk. All. Night.”

Ares snatched the pillow away from Arie. “STOP!” He smacked her with the pillow in retaliation causing her to fall backward. “You’re the jerk!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are!”

Arie grabbed one of Ares pillows and tried to attack him again. “NO I’M NOT!”

Ares dodged her attack and smacked her again. “YOU DITCHED ME FOR DAD!”

A bewildered expression fell onto Arie’s face. “What?“

Ares turned away from his sister to sit on the edge of the bed, which allowed Arie to launch her pillow at his dome. He fell to the floor. “I was HIDING from you, you drama queen!” She said as she walked over to the edge of the bed and towered over him.

Ares rose from the floor and pointed his finger at Arie “You were still hiding after the sun went down!”

“I did not want my hair cut-” The distant sound of thunder was released into the night sky. Arie quickly sank into the bed and put the blankets over her. She mentally began to count to ten.

Ares took this time to climb back into bed and gently lay the pillow over his sister’s head. “I felt alone today, there I said it.”

At first, it was silent. He didn’t expect her to respond because of the state of outside. “I’m sorry Arey,” Arie said through the blankets. She rose from the sheets and shakily hugged Ares, who hesitated a bit before hugging her back.

“I’m sorry too Airy.” It felt like nothing more needed to be said. Arie went back to her spot on the bed and closed her eyes. “Night Arey.”

Ares suddenly felt the tiredness begin to pull him away from staying awake. He got comfortable in his spot and slowly closed his eyes. “Night Airy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is doing okay! I genuinely appreciate the kudos and comments, it gives me the motivation to continue the story (which is FAR from over). Anyways, let me know what you think of Chapter 3.


	4. Aftermath

The night air rustled its way through the leaves in the trees, the variety of flowers: lilacs, roses, daisies, turnips, etc that sat proudly in the soil within the garden located in the backyard, and the small pond in the middle of the garden that was ankle-deep. It was big enough for the kids to splash in when it was hot outside.

Hera leaned her tired body on the rails of her bedroom balcony that overlooked the entire view of the garden. The chilled air made the dried mascara tears on her face feel brittle. She lazily held her hand out to summon a cigarette. She pulled the item to her lips and took a long pull before blowing out the smoke. It warmed her body for a short minute.

She felt lost. There were many times in her life where she felt confused, betrayed, or even worthless. Each day she found more cons than pros when it came to being the Queen of Olympus married to the biggest whore bag of Olympus. The aftermath of arguments always led to Zeus leaving the house for the night.

 _He’s probably sticking his eggplant in someplace new._ Hera took another pull of her cigarette. She planned on quitting last week, it was a promise she made to herself and Hades. Yet, she broke her promise a couple of days ago.

_Shit happens._

Hera took out her phone. The fluorescent lighting beamed in her face, which caused her to mildly squint her eyes. It was as though her muscle memory effortlessly guided her finger through her contacts to call the one familiar person who can distract her thoughts.

The phone rang once before the person on the other line answered “Bunny?” He sounded worried. “Are you okay?”

“I need to see you.” Hera took another pull from her cigarette, exhaling slowly to stop herself from tearing up at the sound of his concerned voice.

She heard a few things shuffling in his background. “Are you sure it can’t wait until the morning? It’s too late to be going out.”

 _It is like him to be cautious._ “I NEED to see you.”

He didn’t respond at first. Hera almost considered the possibility of him putting the call on mute until his voice filled the silence “Where is he?”

It was one thing to guess or assume where Zeus was or what he was doing, but the thought of not knowing his actual whereabouts scared Hera. No Queen should deal with an unloyal King filled with lies.

“I-I don’t know, and quite frankly I can care less.” There was a half-truth to the lie she told, but she wouldn’t admit it.

The man sighed heavily. Hera imagined his stress lines appearing on his forehead. “I’ll come to get you.”

For the first time since the night began Hera smiled weakly. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll get there myself.”

“It’s too late outside-“

“I’m a grown woman Hades, I can take care of myself. See ya in a few!” She hung up the phone before he tried to protest.

Before Hera left the house she made a brief stop in Athena, Ares, and Arie’s rooms to check if they were okay. It was a routine she did in the middle of the night when it was hard for her to stay asleep, or didn’t feel like being in the same space as Zeus. She nearly panicked when she noticed that Arie’s room was empty, but felt at ease when she found her sleeping adjacent to Ares’s foot. Her little warhead always slept crazy.

A tiny part of her conscience considered teleporting to his doorsteps, but she chose to drive one of the few sports cars collecting dust bunnies in the basement to cool down the remainder of her anger. She chose the sleek black car with the golden rims. Hera wasn’t good with car names, but she could sure drive like a racer. The black car was her favorite out of everything else because she felt invisible inside it. As though no one could see her, especially through the tinted windows.

The car was a gift from Hades, for one of her birthdays. He was tired of Hera borrowing his cars because of her stubbornness to use Zeus’s tramp-mobiles. They both knew that Hera wouldn’t drive it often, but it was a nice gift to have just in case.

Small moments from her argument with Zeus replayed in her mind like a movie trailer as she started the car and exited through the remote garage door that led to her driveway.

_“Was it necessary to belittle me in front of the kids? Are you that unstable with your emotions that you don’t know how to express yourself?!” Zeus shouted at Hera, who sat on the bed with her arms crossed._

_“I’m not an unstable SEX ADDICT!”_

_The familiar sound of thunder burst its way through the clouds like a bass drum “All you do is accuse me with no proof.”_

_“No proof?” Hera rose from the king-size bed decorated with satin sheets. “No PROOF?” She advanced towards Zeus while balling her fists by her sides._

_“You always assume that I’m doing something wrong.”_

_“She called looking for you last week while you were at brunch, probably screwing another random nymph. Athena picked up the phone and that WOMAN assumed Athena was your assistant.”_

_“That could have been anyone!”_

_“DO YOU NOT HAVE ANY SHAME THAT YOU CHOOSE TO MOCK ME BY GIVING THESE WHORES YOUR NUMBER?!”_

_“Bunny-” Hera tried to use her strength to push her fists into Zeus’s chest, but he quickly fastened his hands over her own. “Do you see how you’re letting your emotions get the best of you?” She wrestled against his hold to find a way to be released, but Zeus took the opportunity to shake her. “YOU’RE ACTING CRAZY!”_

_“I RATHER BE CRAZY THAN YOUR WIFE!”_

The Underworld blends in with Olympus the most during the night time, since Helios was circling a different section of the mortal realm. During the day, Olympus looked like a shiny night light compared to the Underworld In Hera’s opinion. She gently pressed her foot on the breaks as she approached the gated checkpoint between both cities. The red officer nymph dressed in his blue uniform opened the gate once he noticed the license plate of the vehicle, which read “Queen H” and quickly saluted Hera as she drove past.

The “CONGRATULATIONS YOU’RE DEAD! WELCOME TO THE UNDERWORLD" sign made Hera chuckle. Her immortality did not make her feel any more alive. Most of the time she felt dead inside, as though she was just stuck in the same routine. If it wasn’t for her children she didn’t know what she would do.

Hera drove the car up to his driveway to the entrance of Hades garage. His mansion was enormously big, yet smaller than her own. She felt bad that he had to be in there alone. It was as though his dogs were his best friends. The last thing Hera wanted was to visit in the future and see over 100 dogs within his home.

 _I should set him up with somebody. Soon._ She thought to herself as the garage door opened for her to enter. Relief washed over her shoulder. She needed a change of scenery. Since he had a bit more cars than dogs, Hera had to drive farther into his garage to find somewhere to park the car. Luckily, she found space before she lost her patience.

Hades waited for Hera in his kitchen dressed in his bathrobe. Before her arrival, he ushered his dogs into a different section of his house that he tailored for his dogs because he knew how jumpy they got when company arrived at the house. He was in the middle of brewing coffee when he heard the sound of footsteps near him. 

He turned his body to properly face Hera, who looked tired. He noticed the half-ass ponytail style, the pajama bottoms, and the tank top that didn’t match. He never agreed with Zeus’s affairs, nor did he like to hear about it. Hera did deserve better, but she would never receive better because Zeus couldn’t help himself.

“Do you want to talk about it-“

Hera raced over to Hades, grabbed his face, and pulled his lips to hers. She pulled back “shut up and kiss me”. She started to kiss him again and made a surprised yelp when she felt his arms wrap around her body to lift her. Her legs immediately wrapped around his torso as he carried her to the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, in the last month I had to move all my belongings back home from college since I graduated, and mentally I've been everywhere. I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe whether you're inside, outside protesting (#BLM), or going to work. CONGRATS CLASS OF 2020!


	5. Party [Part 1]

_ “You’re a coward.” Arie stared at Ares in utter disgust.  _

_ Ares tried to speak but his mouth failed to form words, and his voice refused to make a sound. They were in the garden, but the heat was unbearable. His mother’s flowers were burning around them on fire like custom flashlights. He found it harder to breathe as his weak body sank lower to the ground. Arie’s eyes shone pure white as her powers continued to spiral out of control.  _

_ Ares needed help fast. He nearly sighed in relief when he heard thunder rattle the cloudy sky above him. Zeus walked slowly to the scene from behind Arie. Ares watched in horror as Zeus cackled and placed his hand proudly on Arie’s shoulder.  _

_ “He is a coward, isn’t he?” _

“AREY!” Arie screamed while slamming another pillow into his face. “WAKE UP!

Ares jolted awake. His pajamas clamped to his sweaty skin. It took him a few seconds to realize that his nightmare wasn’t real. His sister stood over him with a concerned look on her face. “You kept tossing and turning and muttering things.” She tried to explain.

Ares slowly rose from his sleeping position. His head felt heavier than usual. “What the-,“ he scanned his bedroom and noticed long golden locks that sprawled over his bed like an extra blanket. He sucked his teeth. “GET THIS OFF ME!” 

“It’s attached to you genius.”

“I look like a girl!” He grabbed two fistfuls of his hair and examined the mess for the second time. “I look like you and ma, I’m supposed to look manly.”

“A pretty girl.” Arie smiled. “No one told you to start growing it out of nowhere, maybe it started growing because of your dream. Are you okay?”

Ares looked Arie in her face. He stared directly into her eyes. The same ones he didn’t recognize in his dream. He felt better knowing that his dream wasn’t real, but he wasn’t ready to talk about it. The last he wanted to do was believe he was scared of her. 

“I’m fine”, He jumped out of bed and began to gather some of his hair in his hands. “I’m going to ask ma to cut it.” Ares felt the back of his hair lift off the floor. When he turned around he saw Arie mimicking his actions. 

“Okay Arey, I’m ready.”

Ares quickly turned his head before the smile found its way to his lips. At that moment he felt his heart warm at the mere thought of his sister helping him without being asked.

Arie followed Ares through the long extravagant hallway that led to the golden grand staircase. The clock above the family painting, which hung proudly between both left and right hall entrances showed that it was around 10 am. 

The closer they got to the bottom of the steps, the more the twins smelled food blossoming from the kitchen area. “Mmmmmm,” they said in unison.

“I wonder what mama is cooking. She’s usually in her office at this time.” Arie said, picking up her footsteps.

“Anything but His cooking” Ares shuddered at the thought of Zeus cooking food again. The last time he tried to make rice he nearly burned the house down because he forgot to put water in the pan. He was trying to prove to Hera that he was capable of doing something. That night they ate fruits from the garden.

“Yea...” Arie agreed. “ANYTHING but that.”

Neither Hera nor Zeus was present in the kitchen cooking food. Instead, it was Athena, who floated midway in the air to align herself with the pots on the stove to attend to the food. On the counter beside her were two plates filled with turkey bacon and eggs. 

“Good morning!” Athena said cheerfully, her back still facing away from her siblings. “Mother and father aren’t here, so I took it upon myself to make breakfast.” She turned off the stove heater. “I made extra for them if they show up-“ 

Athena froze at the sight of Ares’s overgrown hair sprawled over the floor, in his hands and Arie’s hands. She immediately placed her hand over her mouth to contain her laughter. “What happened?!” 

“It’s not FUNNY!” Ares dropped his portion of the hair he carried and curled his fingers into fists. “I’M HAVING A BAD HAIR DAY!”

“No kidding.” 

“It is pretty funny.” Arie chimed in.

“WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?!” Ares yelled, throwing his hands up in frustration.

“Let's just eat while we wait for mother” Athena grabbed both plates before sinking gracefully to the floor. “I set the table already.”

The children took their place at the dining room table. Athena sat in Hera’s spot. She wanted to be adjacent to Ares and Arie to help distribute the food and to keep an eye on their mess. Ares stood out like a sore thumb, and it was hard to not stare at him and laugh most of the time.

Hera entered the house 30 minutes later from the door that led to the basement. “Marco!” She yelled into the mansion.

“POLO!” The kids screamed in unison. 

The sound of Hera’s heels rhythmically clicking against the marble floor entered the dining room. Her outfit consisted of a green turtleneck dress, matching green heels with black shades over her eyes, and a lit cigarette between her fingers. 

“We have a big day today-“ She immediately took off her shades to survey the scene before her. She pointed at Ares, “Am I missing something?”

“I am as confused as you mom,” Athena said.

“I’M HAVING A BAD HAIR DAY!” Ares tugged on his hair to prove his point.

“He grew it in his sleep,” Arie added. “He wanted you to cut it.” She snickered. 

“IT’S NOT FUNNY!” He yelled again, sparks of fire spewing out from his mouth. 

Hera bit her cheeks hard enough to suppress her giggles. “Oh stop being dramatic!” She waved her hand nonchalantly. “Come with me and we can fix this fiasco. No need to start a war over it.” She began to walk away. 

Ares’s attitude diminished. He quickly pushed his chair outward to leave the dining room in his mother’s footsteps, tripping over his hair a few times in the process.

“Do you want to help me clean Ari?” Athena asked.

Arie looked between the dishes on the table and the hallway her brother exited. “Ok, but let’s be quick so I can see his hair again.”

When Hera and Ares reached her room she made sure that all his hair was inside before shutting the bedroom door. She led him to her grand bathroom where she found a stool for him to sit in front of her beauty mirror. 

“You know you kind of look like my twin, my little warhead” she smiled warmly, staring at Ares through the mirror. “But I understand if I’m the last person you’d want to look like-“

“No ma! We can look alike! We can be twins!” Ares interrupted.

Hera ruffled his hair before opening a drawer with different sized scissors. “I love the thought of that.” She picked up a solid gold pair that was constructed by Demeter centuries ago. It was a present she always cherished. 

“Now tell me, why the growth.” She started sniping the hair away in the back. 

“I-I had a nightmare-” Ares lowered his eyes to the ground where he watched his pile of hair fall. “about Airy. And Zeus.”

“Mhm, tell me more.” Hera encouraged. She allowed Ares to call Zeus by his first name whenever they were alone because even she didn’t respect him as a father. Ares never called him anything other than sir or tried to avoid his name overall.

“Well all I remember is the garden on fire because of Airy, her eyes were glowing and it was too hot. I was on the ground. Then Zeus appears and he laughs. He was happy for Airy, and what she was doing. I thought she was trying to kill me.”

Hera raised her scissors away from Ares's head. Ares looked up when he realized that his mother hadn’t cut another piece of hair. They locked eyes through the mirror.

“This isn’t your first time having a dream like this.” She was aware of her son having nightmares about Zeus, but never about Arie. It sometimes scared her thinking of the wrath her daughter had the potential to produce. Hera gently hugged her son from behind. 

“I’m happy you told me” She whispered.

“Ma does Zeus hate me?”

He felt Hera hesitate before answering “No. He just gets annoyed easily.”

Ares sucked in a breath. “Okay. Do you think that Airy will ever hate me?”

“Of course not!” Hera looked at the mirror again. “You guys are two peas in a pod.”

“Okay, ma.” For a split moment, Ares thought that he heard the bedroom door close softly, but shrugged it off. 

-

“I know this may appear last minute, but today we are hosting a dinner party,” Zeus kept his eyes off Hera, who noticed the hickey he tried to poorly hide on his neck when he teleported home later in the day. 

Athena, Ares, and Arie sat in the living on the same couch used in the family portrait. Hera merely stood in Zeus’s peripheral vision shooting metaphoric daggers from her eyes. Zeus’s assistant visited their house during the day to handle catering placement and decorations.

“I want to go over the rules. Bookworm you’re fine. You always behave beautifully.” He narrowed his eyes at the twins, concentrating his gaze on Ares. “I expect to see no funny business from either of you or pranks. I expect you two to behave-“

“They get it, they’re not dogs.” Hera interrupted. “Move on.”

“Do you?” He asked them. 

Arie smiled and nodded. “Yes, papa.” 

Ares stiffly nodded his freshly cut head. “Yes sir.” 

Zeus smiled. “Good. Now run along to your bedrooms and get changed. Your outfits should be waiting for you on the bed.” 

“Will Hestia be in attendance?” Athena asked cheerfully. 

“Yes,” Hera confirmed. She grinned knowingly “Why?”

“No reason,” Athena smiled while hopping down from the couch. “I do enjoy her company. She’s great to talk to.” 

“Or maybe it’s her crush,” Arie whispered to Ares causing them both to snicker.

“Oh shut up!” Athena blushed.

“I’m happy you converse with the guest bookworm. It helps them feel welcomed” Zeus interjected, “which reminds me Hermès, Apollo and Artemis are a few of the many younger generation Gods and Goddesses who will be attending the party, so I expect you to treat them with respect.”

“I’m sure ARIE will treat Hermès with a lot of respect.” Ares teased. 

“Yea, if she’s not busy wishing they were married,” Athena smirked.

“Shut up! That’s not true!” Arie immediately covered her ears and ran out of the living room until she reached her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to write a longer chapter because of the wait. Hope everyone is staying safe, and practicing social distancing. GO REGISTER TO VOTE (if you haven't already)!


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